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#1449 - Tuesday, June 3, 2003 - Editor: Jerry

Picture Credit: Dr. George (Jim) Henry
Javanese Gamelon  

Udan Mas (Golden Rain) - one of the most famous of traditional Javanese gamelan pieces: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian/Budaya_Bangsa/Gamelan/Javanese_Gamelan/music/javanese.ram Source: Wildgarden's Live Journal  

Between the conscious and the unconscious, the mind has put up
a swing; all creatures, even supernovas, sway between these
two trees, and it never winds down.  

Angels, animals, humans, insects by the million, also the
wheeling sun and moon; ages go by, and it goes on.  

Everything is swinging: heaven, earth, water, fire, and the
secret one slowly growing a body. Kabir saw that for fifteen
seconds, and it made him a servant for life.  

Kabir translated by Robert Bly   Contributed by D.S.  

Dustin responds to poster on the I Am list:

Namaste all in the name of Bhagwan,

Well i am 24 year old indian and my hometown Bangalore
is not very far from Ramanashram.I am now in a new
city pune further up north in india. I find it very
difficult to practice self-enquiry and that is why i
try gayatri mantra. Also staying away from family i am
slowly losing attachment towards my family. Can these
be considered symptoms of approaching the mental state
of a sanyasi. Also how effective is it to chant the
gayatri mantra mentally.My ultimate aim is to practice
holding on to the 'I' thought.

Please help me in my quest towards self-enquiry.  

Dustin's response:  

I was moved to reply to your letter because I was also about 24 when I started to undertake a serious spiritual practice. I've never been to Bangalore or to Pune, but I was 22 when I made my first trip to India and I'd love to go back sometime soon.   I've done a certain amount of work with the gayatri mantra, and I found it to be very helpful as a technical exercise to develop my mind's powers of concentration. If you were to undertake a purush charana with gayatri (125,000 repetitions over a 4-month span, for example), you would undoubtedly find that your mind would become more focused and one-pointed. That works out to about 10 malas of gayatri every day for a period of 3-4 months.   However, in its simplest form, the gayatri mantra can also be distilled into the simple sound "AUM", which you can use in a similar way to the full mantra. That is to say, you can try focusing your attention on the sound AUM (or OM) for long periods, or else start by using the universal mantra, "so-hum," where the syllable "so" is aligned with the in-breath and the syllable "hum" is aligned with the out-breath.   And remember that no matter which mantra you use, a regular practice of continually asking yourself Bhagwan's question, "Who am I?" will also gradually lead you inward towards realization of the Self. Asking yourself that question at every opportunity is itself a practice of self-enquiry.   Thank you for writing!   Yours in service, Dustin  

Start-up executive passes tough test of character:  

I also like to include in this newsletter a story of human interest.
This month I got it from "The San Jose Mercury News", business
section.

Scott Martin is the Chief executive of Determine Software. Martin,
45, was surprised when he started feeling fatigued. He went for a
checkup, and in February 2002 was diagnosed with leukemia. Doctors
gave him a 14 percent chance to survive.

This is a good reason to not put off meditation. You never know how
long this life will last.

Meanwhile, his San Francisco start-up, which sells enterprise software
for contract management, was in a crucial phase of build out. It had four
major customers and needed more venture capital to expand.

But Martin stayed focused. He worked his laptop and phones from his
hospital bed as he received treatment. The company stayed on track,
signing up what would be 10 more Fortune 500 companies by the
end of the year.

He hired a chief financial officer, whom he interviewed from the hospital,
and two other key members of his team. When he started raising capital
in September, venture capitalists saw a big risk in his health but could see
he was dealing well with the challenge.

In October, Buck French of JP Morgan Partners went to visit Martin, who
was then undergoing chemotherapy to prepare for a bonemarrow transplant.
With Martin's immune system compromised, French was forced to put on
a mask, a gown and gloves before he could negotiate terms with the sick
patient.

French says Martin's passion impressed him. Martin was willing to meet
with him even as the Stanford University Hospital nurses chided him.
Sure, health was a big concern, but on the flip side, said French: "If this
guy survives, he's a winner;" he remembered thinking at the time. "This
is the type of person you want to invest in."

French joined with existing investors and they all chipped in a total of $12.25
million. Around that time, the company was renamed Determine Software.

Martin's health has continued to improve. He has emerged from the hospital in
full remission, and has already this year posted 100,000 airline miles visiting
customers.

The lesson? Martin says he can identify with cyclist Lance Armstrong, who
wrote in his biography that he was glad he got cancer - it made him a better
person and stronger cyclist. Martin says he too had been dogged by a major
weakness: an inability to delegate responsibility. His sickness changed all
that. "Looking back, all the lessons were positive," he said. He couldn't have
done it without his team of about 40 employees.

Our lesson from this is to live and meditate with passion and focus as if today was
your last day. With that kind of energy you can easily throw off your apparent
limitations, seek and then find the Wisdom of the ages. This Wisdom will save your
life too.

In this seeking you are not creating something new but find that which was
always there, your own Self-Nature. You are merging back into infinity so
that you can stand right where you belong.

from Light Up Your Life Newsletter: www.light-up-your-life.com

Tim Gerchmez
NDS

The End

There's a cat here with heart disease who decided it's
better to fade away than to burn out!  Clearly, she
never experienced the 1960's :-).

Another severe dizzy spell tonight, and she isn't
eating since 36 hours ago.  She goes to the vet
tomorrow, but what can they do?  No more medicine.

Perhaps she has 7 days remaining, maybe less.  I have
had the sense she's getting ready to die for several
days now.  Here's a (probably) final pic for the group
from 'my Guru' and Beloved one.

Peace,

Tim

Poem
By Margot Roessle Best
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p22s03-hfpo.html

peony sweet pea
uplifting pansy faces
May/I have this dance

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